Year 12 IB Extended Essays 2018

Pink’s theory has undoubtedly contributed to Tesla’s innovation outcomes. For instance, Tesla’s purpose (intrinsic motivation) resulted as a greater pull factor to future employees. Tesla now boasts more than 150 employees who previously worked for Apple (Charlton, 2015). Many of the former Apple, now current Tesla employees, have credited the CEO as one of their main draws to the company. Intrinsic motivation is a substantial way of motivation as it fosters creativity rather than narrowing down the focus through extrinsic motivation. It is said to diminish capacity to think creatively. It is arguably a better tool to use in that department. In addition, according to Pink, intrinsic motivation is powerful in situations in which the solutions are far more ambiguous and unobvious. For example, this includes technical problems, as solutions to this require ambiguity and immense brain power. Pink says the solutions that require those mental attributes requires undergoing intrinsic motivation. This is primarily because Pink says intrinsic motivation taps into the more critical part of the mind, allowing in-depth thinking – and this type of thinking is what is going to aid employees at Tesla to find the unclear solutions to those technical issues. Pink reinforces this claim by arguing that this cannot be achieved through extrinsic motivation. However, this is not to suggest that extrinsic motivation is merely ineffective. Whilst many believe intrinsic motivation is the ideal way of motivation, extrinsic motivation can be beneficial in some situations. It can be especially helpful in situations where an employee needs to achieve a task that they find unenjoyable. Although too much external rewards may be problematic, if used appropriately, extrinsic motivators can be a useful tool. For instance, external rewards can generate participation through interest in something that the employee had no initial interest in.

Although not as effective, extrinsic motivation is still considered as a source of feedback, enabling employees to know when their performance has reached the required standard. Praise related extrinsic motivation, such as performance-related pay, can help increase internal motivation.

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